HOBOKEN – The waterfront soccer field at Frank Sinatra Park, which has been closed since 2009 after a portion of the park collapsed, will be fully repaired and opened to residents by mid-August, according to a report on NJ.com.

According to city spokesman Juan Melli, the contractors charged with the field’s restoration are currently driving piles into the riverbed in an effort to solidify the park’s foundation. Melli said that this portion of the job is to be completed within 10 days, at which point the field’s new foundation can be constructed.

Construction on the park began a year ago and was expected to be completed earlier this year, but the project was elongated when divers deemed the park’s foundations to deteriorated to rebuild. Work resumed in September on a revised plan which included new steel drivers and concrete piles to be inserted under the park.

According to NJ.com, some City Council members suggested that Mayor Dawn Zimmer sue the contractor who originally built the park in the 1990s, but Zimmer refused, calling it a “fruitless effort that would only waste taxpayer money.” – Dean DeChiaro